NEW
A guide to preparing for disasters
Citizen North Coast
COLUMBIA PACIFIC
Get Ready Guide
Headlight Herald
2023-2024
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Page A10
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Wednesday, August 30, 2023
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Scappoose REMS to the rescue WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
F
ighting fires is perilous, and firefighters constantly put themselves in danger when in the line of duty. But while the nature of the work itself is dangerous, special units like the Rapid Extraction Module Support (REM or REMS) team at Scappoose Rural Fire District (SRFD) offer critical emergency support in difficult-toreach spots. The Scappoose REMS team returned Aug. 20 from a 14-day deployment at the Bedrock Fire outside of Eugene. The REMS unit specializes in emergency medical and rescue operations and provides rope rescue services and medical support on large wildfire incidents and remote rescues.
One of the things that is awesome about REM is you are truly thinking outside the box. - Jeff Pricher, SRFD Fire Chief
SRFD started the unit in 2020 as ideas about providing medical support during wildfire response changed. SRFD Fire Chief Jeff Pricher said that following the death of wildland firefighter Andy Palmer in 2008, more thought has been put into creating units that can help extract people in need, even in the most challenging terrain. “At some point, someone was like, ‘Wow, these structural fire agencies, they’re really good with
rescuing people with ropes, I bet you it would be really good for us to have some ropes and rope rescue guys on wildland fires where you gotta pull somebody up a cliff,’” Pricher said. “And that was how the idea was hashed.” Pricher said that SRFD saw and heard about what other agencies around the country were doing and decided that it would be worth getting into because they have strong medical personnel and saw a need in the local area as well. In an emergency Pricher said there have been incidents where mountain bikers have crashed on trails near Scappoose, and special equipment is needed to extract them. In addition to wildland fire training, unit members are certified paramedics and emergency medical technicians and have undergone rope rescue certification. In concept, the crew for the unit is a four-person team. To carry out rescues, the team uses a custom Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) that has been designed to hold rescue equipment and provide safe transport for patients who are rescued. The UTV was paid for through donations to SRFD. The unit is equipped with two full rope rescue kits, a GPS and monitor, and battery-powered extrication equipment, among other lifesaving tools. Communication during incidents is a constant key for the members of the REM unit. Within SRFD, Pricher estimated that about 75% of the organization is trained as rope technicians. The remaining members are at the “operations or awareness level.”
When on duty at a scene, the REM unit is constantly assessing risk and adjusting positioning so they can quickly provide help to firefighters or people in need. “One of the things that is awesome about REM is you are truly thinking outside the box. So the first thing is trying to figure out what resources you have, how to integrate those, and what processes you’re going to implement, step-by-step, based on what you see,” Pricher said. “Because no two rescues are going to be the same.” Paul Liebig is a member of the REM unit, and he was the person in charge of the unit during the deployment to the Bedrock Fire. Liebig handled communications for the crew and assigned the other members to their tasks. “Constant reevaluation every day,” Liebig said. “Keeping one person available to do only communications, someone’s doing systems, and I have one to two rescuers.” Pricher said that this unit is most commonly deployed in difficult terrain or Type 1 or Type 2 fires, which are “incidents of national significance.” Locally, the REM unit has been deployed to help the sheriff’s department with search and rescue calls or extracting mountain bikers who have crashed. The deployment of the REM unit largely comes down to risk assessment, according to Liebig and Pricher. Fortunately, Liebig and his team did not have to perform any extractions during their deployment at the Bedrock Fire. However, when offering support to the units fighting the fire, the REM unit is in constant communication with those fighting
Courtesy photo from Paul Liebig
See REMS Page A5
The REM unit’s UTV during its deployment at the Bedrock Fire.
Fairgrounds raising money for roofs WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
Jon Campbell / Country Media, Inc.
The metal roofs on the fairgrounds barns are at least 50 years old.
Now that the summer months are coming to a close, and the Columbia County Fair has come and gone, fairgrounds officials have focused on addressing some of the much-needed repairs for the aging fairgrounds infrastructure. Fair Board President Peggy Howell said seven barn roofs need replacing at the fairgrounds. In 2022, it was announced that the fairgrounds would receive grant money to support building a pole barn and repairing the rusting metal roofs. Howell said that by the time the grant money came through, prices had increased so much on materials that repairing the roofs would not be possible. Howell said the cost of repairing each roof was about $56,000 when the project was initially bid about two years ago. Howell is a realtor with John L. Scott Real Estate, and she said that
the company will host a fundraiser Oct. 14 at the Fairgrounds Pavilion to try and raise enough funds to replace one of the seven roofs in need. “John L. Scott is having ‘Back to the West with John L. Scott,’ and it’s all a western theme,” Howell said. “We’re selling tables or individual [tickets], we’re having dinner and an auction, and we’re having a mechanical bull, and just trying to raise money. All the proceeds will go to the fairgrounds.” Howell said the roofs have been “rusting through” and that there are holes in some of them as well. Fair board member Henry Heimuller said that the roofs on the barn are the original roofs from the fairground’s initial construction. “The fairgrounds was built in the late ‘60s, and those barns have been there some time since then. They were maybe built in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s, and they’re the original roofs,” Heimuller said. The metal roofs are at least 50
years old, and Heimuller said they are all very rusted. Though they are still watertight “for the most part,” Heimuller said that the westwardfacing sides of the buildings are seeing their nails and fasteners wear out. One of the challenges for repairing some of the roofs now is that the metal is so old that it is precarious for workers to make repairs from the rooftops, according to Heimuller. Heimuller said getting the funds for the repairs will require “concerted effort” on a variety of fronts. Heimuller said securing grant funding would be a solution, in addition to smaller individual fundraisers to “chip away at it, a little at a time.” Heimuller said that while the current board is “relatively new,” he said that they are focused on addressing years’ worth of “deferred maintenance.”
See FAIRGROUNDS Page A4
Fresh start for St. Helens boys soccer WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
St. Helens High School (SHHS) students will be back in classrooms
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Vol. 141, No. 36
soon, but for the athletes participating with the boys soccer team this fall, the work has already begun. Under the leadership of new Head Coach Jim Cole, SHHS boys soccer will be heading in a different direction stylistically, and Cole hopes that positive results in the win column will follow. While Cole is new to the head coaching position, he has coached at SHHS before and was the JV Head Coach for boys soccer from 2008 to 2012, when he left to coach his two younger sons in youth soccer. “Fast forward to this year, and that youngest [son] that I stopped at high school to go coach in youth, he’s a freshman now,” Cole said. “This year’s 28 years of either being the head coach or assisting at some phase of the game.” Cole said he’s been setting up “mostly winning” teams at the 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade years, and he felt that now was a great time to take his decades of experience and apply them at the high school level. Preseason Cole said that getting his team together began in early June with
get athletes on the end of the long passes type of offense. Cole wants his players to play more of a “thinking person’s game,” using their clever ball movement and space of the field to create chances. The quicker passing style of play will make it difficult for teams to play physically with Cole’s team. “We have a young team. We have four outstanding freshmen that are playing on varsity. Because they’re freshmen, they’re not very big, but they’re fast, they’re in shape. So that level of possession and moving the ball quickly plays very well into them,” Cole said. Making adjustments
Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.
SHHS boys soccer compete at practice following their preseason Jamboree.
a lot of scrimmage-type play and some conditioning so Cole could evaluate where the players were at and assess their strengths. The summer practices were largely focused on getting plenty of reps playing to instill the love of the game before focusing on the technical aspects of the game. “I’m a big one about controlling the ball, possession play, a lot of
more Barcelona, Real Madrid type,” Cole said. “We want a little bit more ‘Messi,’ where we’re passing the ball, we control it, and we fight for every inch if we need to, to move the ball, but we really prefer to look around, find the open space and move into it.” That possession-type offense is contrasted with a more play-the-ball forward with big kicks and try to
With a young team, Cole hopes they will be competitive for years to come. However, the team is also led by outstanding seniors, including Antonio Ramos and Captain Cole Leader. Since Cole has taken the helm, he’s shifted players into different positions that better suit their skills within the new system. Cole said
See SOCCER Page A4